India and the U.S. have made progress in their discussions on signing the two remaining foundational agreements and the issue will figure prominently at the upcoming India-U.S. two-plus-two dialogue in Washington in July, officials said.

“India is now keen to move quickly on the remaining two foundational agreements and some progress has been made. The U.S. is keen to quickly get them out of that way so that technology cooperation can move forward,” a diplomatic source told The Hindu. The source said apart from the foundational agreements, the U.S. was keen on a broad-based intelligence-sharing agreement.

Another source said the foundational agreements were essential to take high technology cooperation to the next level.

India and the U.S. concluded the logistics pact — Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) — the first of the three foundational agreements, in 2016 after a decade of negotiations. But India was reluctant to move ahead on the other two agreements — Communications Compatibility And Security Agreement and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Information and Services Cooperation.

The dialogue which got postponed is likely to take place on July 6 and will be attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and U.S. Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

"These agreements represent a confluence of interests in safeguarding sensitive information and facilitating enhanced cooperation," officials said, adding that none of these agreements "infringe upon Indian sovereignty".

According to the officials, CISMOA permits secure communications interoperability between partners during bilateral and multinational training exercises and operations.

"It enables friendly partner governments to receive both secure communications products and information on approved equipment for these purposes," the official said.

According to the defence official, BECA allows for no-cost exchange of unclassified and controlled unclassified geospatial products, data, and services between India and the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

This agreement would enable India to obtain a range of geospatial products and training.

Officials said GSOMIA, which has already been signed, establishes the intent of the US and the partner country to protect each other's classified information.

"The implementation of GSOMIA represents a deepening of the security relationship with the US and is a strong indicator of trust in the other," officials said.

The US would also conclude implementing arrangements to GSOMIA concerning Industrial Security, officials said.

"They may allow for greater cooperation on classified programs between the signatory nations. The Industrial Security Arrangement should be in force prior to commencement of any classified co-production or co-development activities with foreign industry," the official said.

Many of the US' most capable military platforms contain sub-systems of classified hardware, software, or supporting information.

The GSOMIA permits the US to offer and transfer these items as a complete fighting system.

"Thus, advance missiles and electronic warfare protective suites can be offered with US cutting-edge combat aircraft, permitting the acquisition of a more capable platform," the official said.

New Delhi, March 27
So far, India has signed only one of the foundational agreements, called the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA). It had signed the pact with the US in 2016 after decades of negotiation.

The LEMOA is a modified version of the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) focused on India that will enable access to each other’s military facilities for purposes of refuelling and replenishment.

The Communications, Compatibility, Security Agreement (COMCASA) — which will enable Indian military to obtain critical, secure and encrypted defence technologies from the other country.

Finalising COMCASA was also discussed extensively during a meeting between Navy Chief Sunil Lanba and US Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson that was held last week in the US.

It was under former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar that LEMOA got signed. And now it is Defence Minister Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who is making an all-out effort to get COMCASA off the ground.

“COMCASA creates the conditions for the Indian and US military to receive modern secure and net-enabled weapons systems such as precision armament, air-to-air missiles, space systems and navigation systems that are critical components in platforms like fighter aircraft and unmanned aerial systems. Hitherto this will let Indian and US Military to purchase more expensive commercial communications equipment, raising the overall acquisition price of a platform,” said Ben Schwartz, Senior Director (Defence and Aerospace), USIBC.

COMCASA and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA) are the two remaining pacts that were not signed due to severe criticism from within the government. It was feared that signing these agreements would mean compromising India’s age-old military ties with U.S and access to their weaponry systems.

There is opposition to signing the pacts even now within the Defence Ministry as some officials feel that despite these pacts weapons sales from the US will remain subjected to various export control regimes.

New Delhi, March 27
So far, India has signed only one of the foundational agreements, called the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA). It had signed the pact with the US in 2016 after decades of negotiation.

The LEMOA is a modified version of the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) focused on India that will enable access to each other’s military facilities for purposes of refuelling and replenishment.

The Communications, Compatibility, Security Agreement (COMCASA) — which will enable Indian military to obtain critical, secure and encrypted defence technologies from the other country.

Finalising COMCASA was also discussed extensively during a meeting between Navy Chief Sunil Lanba and US Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson that was held last week in the US.

It was under former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar that LEMOA got signed. And now it is Defence Minister Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who is making an all-out effort to get COMCASA off the ground.

“COMCASA creates the conditions for the Indian and US military to receive modern secure and net-enabled weapons systems such as precision armament, air-to-air missiles, space systems and navigation systems that are critical components in platforms like fighter aircraft and unmanned aerial systems. Hitherto this will let Indian and US Military to purchase more expensive commercial communications equipment, raising the overall acquisition price of a platform,” said Ben Schwartz, Senior Director (Defence and Aerospace), USIBC.

COMCASA and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA) are the two remaining pacts that were not signed due to severe criticism from within the government. It was feared that signing these agreements would mean compromising India’s age-old military ties with U.S and access to their weaponry systems.

There is opposition to signing the pacts even now within the Defence Ministry as some officials feel that despite these pacts weapons sales from the US will remain subjected to various export control regimes.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170119/jsp/nation/story_131173.jspUS links pact to tracking Chinese submarines
SUJAN DUTTANew Delhi, Jan. 18: The US has linked India's ability to detect Chinese submarines in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea to the signing of an agreement that will permit sensors and equipment on US planes to talk and share data with those on Indian warships and planes.

The chief of the US Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, has also flagged concerns on China-Bangladesh military relations alongside worries over China-Pakistan military ties and delivery of a refurbished Chinese Ming-class submarine last month.

The US Pacific Command includes India and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) in its area of responsibility. Admiral Harris was talking to a select group of journalists after briefings he took and gave in Washington DC recently.

"My meetings with the President-elect's (Donald Trump) and the National Security Council team last week underscore the seriousness of the way they view the region with great importance. I am reassured over where the new teams are on the relationship with India".

The Indian and the US Navies operate the P8A and the P8i maritime surveillance aircraft, he pointed out.

"With COMCASA, the P8 aircraft would do more interoperable activity. P8A and P8i are not completely interoperable against the kind of subs (submarines) we were talking about," he said.

Admiral Harris was replying to a question on how the signing of the COMCASA would take India-US military-to-military relations forward tangibly. Earlier, responding to another question on reports of an increased deployment of Chinese submarines in waters around India, Admiral Harris said: "We work closely with India to improve India's capability. (There is the) Malabar (exercise) that now (also includes) Japan... we are getting better together with our ability to track Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean Region. There is sharing of information on Chinese maritime movements. I am not getting into specifics beyond that."

COMCASA stands for Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA). It is currently a reworded draft of the CISMOA --- Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement - that was first proposed by the US in 2004 as one of four "foundational agreements" for increased military cooperation.

Two of the agreements have been signed: an End-User Verification and Monitoring Agreement, whose text was frozen in 2007, and a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), a renamed India-specific Logistics Support Agreement, that was signed in August last year. The COMCASA and a proposed Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement on Geo-Spatial information (BECA) are on the table.

Admiral Harris said he believed the COMCASA would be clinched before the BECA .

India's hesitation so far in signing the agreements is a suspicion in the military and the bureaucracy that they might be too intrusive. Meaning, they want provisions that may allow US military personnel or US software that may intervene with Indian assets to be taken off.

In August, after signing the LEMOA, defence minister Manohar Parrikar himself alluded to this. "It has taken 12-13 years for this (the LEMOA); we will come to the next after we have explained this to the public and then take a decision", he had said.

The US Pacific Commander-in-Chief said a Chinese aircraft carrier battlegroup could operate in the Indian Ocean Region today. But "effectiveness may be a different issue (because) India has far more experience and expertise in operating aircraft carriers". The Chinese Peoples' Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has one carrier refurbished from a Russian vessel, the Liaoning. It is building a second.

Admiral Harris said that India should be concerned about increasing Chinese influence in the region.

"I am not a Centcom (US Central Command) guy; I am a Pacom (Pacific Command) guy. I believe the China-Pakistan relationship and also the China-Bangladesh relationship is of some concern. By that, I do believe that a strong and prosperous China is not a bad thing".

Pakistan is in the US Centcom's area of responsibility, unlike India which is in the Pacific Command area of responsibility.

Pakistan is understood to be in talks with China to procure between six and eight submarines. "We are not involved but we are watching it closely. Our relationship with Pakistan is like our relationship with India - they stand on their own merits," he said.

The Admiral explained that the US "rebalance" to Asia - part of the Obama doctrine that saw military deployments in the Asia-Pacific region increase - would not immediately fade away with the Trump Presidency. He said the military component of that policy has involved deploying 60 per cent of US naval assets in the region and a substantial increase in deployments of the US air force and the US army. "They might stop using the term 'rebalance'" he said.

Earlier, speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, a series of speeches on foreign and strategic policies hosted by the ministry of external affairs and think-tank Observer Research Foundation, Admiral Harris said "I do want to reassure you that the US values the Indo Pacific and the view that Secretary Carter (US defence secretary in the Obama administration) has will continue in the new administration."

Last year, at the same event, Admiral Harris had called for joint India-US patrols in the Asia-Pacific region. The public-airing of the proposal somewhat embarrassed the Indian government because it did not want to project that a military alliance was in the making.

With Congress president Rahul Gandhi leaving for the U.S. on Sunday night with his mother Sonia Gandhi, the process is likely to be delayed by four to five days.

The expansion has also been delayed over differences in the distribution between the coalition partners, with a tussle for key Ministries including Finance, Public Works, Water Resources and Energy.

“there are some issues on allocation, particularly the Finance portfolio...”“However, all issues would be sorted out amicably,” he said. He also clarified that he had not heard from Mr. Gandhi on the talks for allocation .